


Sixty for Sixty: 60-word ACD Sherlock Holmes Stories (2015)

by gardnerhill



Series: Sixty for Sixty: 60-word ACD Sherlock Holmes Stories [1]
Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Community: sherlock60, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 49
Words: 2,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3913522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardnerhill/pseuds/gardnerhill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My 60-word Canon Sherlock Holmes stories for the LJ comm <b>Sherlock60</b>. (I joined at "Copper Beeches.")</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Copper Beeches: One Last Thing

“One last governess duty, Mr. Holmes,” Miss Hunter said shakily. “And then I will be done with this house forever.” She went down to the cellar.

 Our conversation with the local police was interrupted by a smacking sound and an apelike howling. The police and I started in fear.

 But Sherlock Holmes smiled. “A spoilt child given his first slippering.”


	2. Silver Blaze: Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every villain starts somewhere.

One blow in self-defense and I’d killed one of our two-legged masters. Exhilaration drove me to run my best - a winner earns the right to stud.

The dog’s silent assistance made him my first henchman. He lolled his tongue in agreement at my invitation.

I would sire a dynasty of Bad Horses. We would be feared as Thoroughbreds of Crime!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will make a wee bit more sense if you know anything about _Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog_.


	3. The Cardboard Box: Misdirected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was the postman’s fault.

Sherlock Holmes peered more closely at the inked house-number on the wrapping. “Good Lord, this says 329 Cross Street!”

We looked up at Miss Cushing’s house, labeled 328.

The horde of scantily-clad women next door betrayed the house’s nature. The madame took the box with the ears in it. “Oh bugger it’s that nutter painter Vincent again,” she said disgustedly.


	4. The Yellow Face: Repercussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watson faces a backlash.

“Another missive from your agent about the difficulties of selling your latest collection in America?”

Watson nodded. “He says my books are being burned in Georgia and Mississippi, and I’ve been declared a race-mixing radical.”

“All for you merely relating the story of Miss Lucy Munro’s parentage.” Holmes pursed his lips, eyes steely. “No wonder her mother fled the States.”


	5. The Stockbroker’s Clerk: Support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s more than one reason to go to group therapy.

“They offered a hundred a year, just to cut my hair and wear a dress.”

“Four guineas a week merely to copy the encyclopedia.”

“Five hundred, to look up hardware stores.”

The newest member, in a Royal Guardsman uniform: “I was just offered ten thousand to go have a beer tonight!”

Leaving the Queen unguarded…

Everyone stampeded to Baker Street.


	6. The Gloria Scott: The Dog That Did Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock Holmes has a reputation among more than human beings.

“Did I ever tell you lot about the time I laid one on Sherlock Holmes?”

The other dogs in the night-time alley clustered round – all except for one dog who did nothing. 

“Aye,” said the bull-terrier, “even then I smelled ‘dog-killer’ on ‘im. Went at ‘im! Boss whipped me something fierce afore I let go. Laid ‘im out for weeks.”


	7. The Musgrave Ritual: Aluminium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief history of bauxite.

“He had a crutch fashioned from _aluminium_?” Watson whistled. “A very wealthy family.”

 “And I retrieved it from thieves wishing to steal 8 pounds of metal more valuable than gold.” Holmes shook his head. “A pity it’s so costly to extract – aluminium’s lightness and strength actually makes it a capital material for crutches.”

 “The American chemists may change that soon.”


	8. The Reigate Squires: Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is a pattern with him.

“My dear Watson, please forgive me for alarming you unnecessarily.”

 

Stony silence.

 

“It seemed the best way to draw out the Cunninghams.”

 

Watson glared. “Holmes, have you never heard of the boy who cried wolf?”

 

“The case-“

 

“I don’t care! One of these days you’ll _die_ on a case and I’ll spent the next three years assuming that you’re shamming.”


	9. The Crooked Man: One Thing Straightened Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surely Watson must have thought “There but for the grace of God goes John Watson.”

“A letter from Corporal Wood.” Watson beamed. “His case has been approved and he’s now receiving a small pension – enough to stave off the knife-edge of poverty. That’s a weight off my mind.”

 

Holmes smiled. “Well done, Watson. Your appeal on his behalf to the Army board was successful.”

 

“Not all wounded soldiers are lucky enough to befriend consulting detectives.”


	10. The Resident Patient: A Very Easy Complaint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “…a very easy complaint to imitate. I have done it myself.”

“Sherlock, we’re all going out to see Auntie Mabel. Come along! …Sherlock? Oh dear, it’s happened again. We’ll go without him, Mycroft.”

 

***

 

“The rent’s due, Mr. ‘Olmes! …MR. ‘OLMES! …Blimey, he’s paralysed! I’ll get a doctor!”

 

***

 

“Holmes, did you make that mess in my room? …Holmes! …Ah, here we are.”

 

“OW!”

 

“Amazing how quickly a pin cures catalepsy.”


	11. The Greek Interpreter: Expertise Level

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never play golf with a man named Doc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“…the conversation … had roamed…from golf clubs to the causes of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic…”_

For ten minutes I expounded on the benefits of the nine versus the five iron, the countries that produced hardwoods that made the best mashies, which terrains were best handled by which device.

 

Holmes, who had scarce been able to contribute two words to that topic, changed the subject so rapidly that I hid my smile at his poorly-hidden pique.

 


	12. The Naval Treaty: Lovely Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watson quite agrees with his friend.

I watch Holmes holding his audience spellbound as he expounds on how flowers are the proof of divinity in creation. For a moment even poor Tadpole forgets his misery.

 

I cannot but agree with him, gazing at this remarkable man of prickly wit who conceals such a tender soul amid those outer barbs: What a lovely thing a rose is.


	13. The Final Problem: The James Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something’s been jimmied.

As Watson's eyes travelled over the letters published in the _Times_ , he felt the first lifting of the pall that had hung over him since that May evening. He read the signature line again: Colonel James Moriarty.

 

Brother of Professor _James_ Moriarty.

 

Was he going mad?

 

“Mary, come here?”

 

His wife walked in from the kitchen. “What is it, James?”


	14. The Hound of the Baskervilles (Part 1): A Dark Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone did indeed swear an unholy oath that night.

She would never make it home before that brute caught up with her. His hounds bayed, closing in.

 

Her woman’s rage filled her mind with one prayer:

 

 _Let me be the hound that hunts_ him _down!_

 

_**Yes.** _

 

She fell forward onto her hands become paws. She grinned and yelled for joy.

 

His last terrified look was sweeter than his blood.


	15. The Hound of the Baskervilles (Part 2): A Curly-Haired Spaniel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was one casualty on the good guys’ side.

Holmes told Dr. Mortimer of his find.

Mortimer blinked hard, sniffed, coughed, exhaled. “Huh! It’s ridiculous. So much murder and horror, Sir Henry and Beryl assaulted – we’re deuced _lucky_ our only loss was a, a dog.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “They give us their whole hearts, and break ours when they die.”

And finally Dr. Mortimer wept.

 


	16. The Empty House: The Empty House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s more than one kind of “sad bereavement.”

I couldn’t fault Mary for divorcing me. It reflects poorly upon a wife to have a husband in perpetual mourning for a friend, rivaled only by the Queen’s for Albert.

Her last words before she left seared but were true: 

“I understood being second in your heart while he was alive. But I refuse to remain second-choice to the dead.”


	17. The Norwood Builder: Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know forensic medicine was in its infancy in 1895, but REALLY.

“We’ve put together the remains we found in the fire.” Lestrade strutted a little at having gotten one over on my friend. “Most curious! According to the bones we found, Mr. Jonas Oldacre was two feet tall when he sat up, had long ears and a furry puff of a tail, and was very fond of carrots.”

“Brilliant work, Inspector.”


	18. The Dancing Men: The Only Way to Win…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> …is not to play.

“A wise decision not to invest, Watson – as your poor friend Thurston must agree.”

I gaped at Holmes for a moment. No chalk on my fingers. What then...?

I smiled sadly. “Of course. You smell his bourbon on my breath – which Thurston only takes when he’s melancholy.”

“And losing so much money to an empty gold-mine would make anyone melancholy.”


	19. The Solitary Cyclist: Levelling Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being stalked, sexually assaulted, kidnapped, and forcibly married for the sole purpose of dividing her fortune between her would-be rapist and her employer will change a woman.

She broke off her engagement. “Cyril, I cannot trust nor bear any man right now – good or bad.”

 

She bequeathed most of the fortune to her mother.

 

She made one large purchase.

 

_I remain solitary and a cyclist – and from now on I keep myself safe!_

 

And Violet Smith roared away on her brand-new motorcycle to start a new life.


	20. The Priory School: Context

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Codes are words that say one thing but, taken out of their ostensible context, say something else.
> 
> WARNING: Contains hints, my dear boy, _hints_.

_“I felt, as I looked upon that supple figure…that it was indeed a strenuous day that awaited us.”_

_“An instant later, his feet were on my shoulders.”_

_“’It is the second most interesting object that I have seen in the North.’”_

 

“Who will know their true context, save us two?” I said tenderly at my friend’s blush as he read.


	21. Black Peter: Dea Ex Martina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George R.R. “Martina,” to be precise. AKA _The Missing Footprints Mystery Solved._
> 
> Warning: Crack-a-doodle-doo.

The blonde woman sitting astride the great winged beast stared Black Peter to silence. “You will harm no more women,” she said fiercely, and flung the harpoon. His dying shriek followed Daenerys as she soared into the sky.

 

###

 

“My good Hopkins, I have investigated many crimes, but I have never yet seen one which was committed by a flying creature.”


	22. Charles Augustus Milverton: Whose Is It? He That Is to Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hell is other people.

“For vulgar money and not the sport itself,” Lady Sneerwell …er, sneered.

 

“Amateur,” sniffed Hearst. “ _I_ destroyed _countries_.”

 

“Was it worth it, Chuckie?” Hedda Hopper grinned.

 

Milverton looked at the people who sat with him in the sweltering tiny doorless room. One chair was unoccupied. He peered through his spectacles at the name on the back.

 

“Who is ‘Rupert Murdoch’?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Dramatis Personae:** Lady Sneerwell is the reputation-ruining antagonist in the Sheridan play _A School for Scandal_. William Randolph Hearst was a newspaper tycoon whose yellow journalism built or broke political careers and ginned up the Spanish-American War. Hedda Hopper was a Hollywood gossip-monger in the Golden Age of the silver screen.


	23. The Six Napoleons: It Got Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even a stubborn bulldog can learn new tricks.

“’Sallow’,” Lestrade murmured. “’Rat-faced’.”

 

Watson’s smile bore a hint of teeth. “Well? You learned not to take credit for someone else’s success without consent.”

 

“Oh Lord, did I.” The inspector held out his glass. “Heard snickering behind me for weeks after that bleeding Beeton’s came out.”

 

Holmes refilled, laughing. “You were the first, but not the last, to underestimate Watson.”


	24. The Three Students: Into Which I Need Not Enter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m sure the timing was merely a coincidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Implies a pairing between Holmes and Watson.

In early April 1895 Holmes shook me awake on a cold dark morning. “Watson, we are leaving town for some time. Immediately.”

 

I blinked. “A case?”

 

“Among other reasons. Lestrade has let slip something. Come, into your clothes at once!”

 

Not till we were well ensconced in a university town, far from London, did I hear of Oscar Wilde’s arrest.


	25. The Golden Pince-Nez: A Prescription

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everyone at 221b is on board the Holmes/Hopkins train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter hints at a Holmes/Hopkins relationship.

Hot water, lemon, a generous splash of brandy. That would banish November cold and wet.

 

From the corner of my eye I saw the cupped, caressing hands as Holmes lit Hopkins’ cigar.

 

I quickly reached into my nearby open doctor’s bag whilst both were distracted.

 

...And a dose of saltpetre.

 

This would be _strictly_ a business call for young Hopkins.


	26. The Missing Three-Quarter: Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The denouement of this one must have really hurt Dr. Watson.
> 
>  **Warning:** You may get feels on this ride. Also very slight hint of a romantic pairing between Holmes and Watson.

Holmes grasped Dr. Armstrong’s hand. “Come, Watson,” said he.

We left that house in silence. In that same silence we walked back. After returning Pompey to his master we made for our room at the inn.

And only when we were safe behind locked doors did Holmes take me in his arms as I wept, remembering my own Mary’s death.


	27. The Abbey Grange: Paraphrase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you have to rewrite a bit to protect certain people.
> 
>  **Warning:** Postulates a romantic relationship between H and W.

Holmes set down my manuscript. “‘Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot’? Rather florid of me, is it not?”

I smiled at him. “I could tell the truth. ‘I was awakened by a hand on my shoulder and a kiss on my cheek. ‘Wake up, dearest, we’ve a case. What a pity you must get dressed.’”

Holmes laughed. “I concede.”


	28. The Second Stain: Security

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makes you wonder just how these guys got their trustworthy reputation.

“The potentate letter.” Holmes sighed. “Another beryl coronet.” 

I shook my own head with my friend. “Agreed. Surrounded by the finest top-of-the-line security devices and measures Her Majesty can provide, the first instinct of the keeper of such precious items…”

“Is to take it home and lock it in one’s own little safe. As if burglars wouldn’t find that easier!”


	29. Wisteria Lodge: Bones, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can be thought of as an unofficial sequel to [this](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3913522/chapters/10480257) 60-word tale.

“One distinct advantage that Surrey holds,” said Sherlock Holmes, “is that it boasts far better trained forensic people than in many other places. Such as those in Norwood. “

I buried my grin behind my paper. “Say, a doctor who can immediately tell that certain bones are not human, versus mistaking dog or rabbit bones for a Mr. Jonas Oldacre?”


	30. The Bruce-Partington Plans: The Illustrated Client

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wondered for whom the plans were drawn up.

Mr. Sidney Johnson, his face drawn from the shock of the last few days, presented the complete set of plans to the commander. “They are all safe, sir, as you see.” 

The white-bearded man in an epauletted band uniform spread them out. “Perfect! Down to the colour of the finished submarine.”

His four crewmembers agreed in chorus: “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”


	31. The Devil’s Foot: Among Savages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Leon Sterndale didn’t specify, did he?

Some Cornishmen doused coastal warning lights to lure ships to ruin, to salvage the wrecks.

I cannot marry my love because of this land’s outdated laws.

A man poisons his siblings – murders my darling – over a little money. 

I must return to central Africa, to brave hunters and clever weavers and beautiful children. I have lived too long among savages.


	32. The Red Circle: Location Scouts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of a detective’s education is doing the research.

A house on Great Orme Street near the British Museum. The box-room comfortably holds two men unafraid of physical intimacy. A full-length mirror is available for appropriate placement, should the desire for one arise. 

Holmes and I returned from our surveillance with a vow to return with two particular members of the constabulary – journeys do indeed end in lovers’ meetings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my contribution to [this ongoing series](http://archiveofourown.org/series/310173).


	33. The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax: Aftereffect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some cases are etched indelibly into the mind.

Our work remains with us in different ways. Holmes dreams of orange pips rolling in his hand, or snakes dropping onto him; I face a red-eyed giant hound or watch, helpless, as Holmes and Moriarty topple into the abyss. 

But one night after the Carfax case we both awoke, gasping for air and clawing at the lids of invisible coffins.


	34. The Adventure of the Dying Detective: Best Served Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is unhealthy both to eat a heavy meal after a 3-day fast, and to mis-use the affections of one’s closest friend.

“No Simpson’s for you tonight.” I pushed my friend back into his bed and raised my voice. “Mrs. Hudson! A bowl of broth. Unsalted.” 

The dismay on Sherlock Holmes’ face was not feigned.

“A teaspoon every quarter-hour,” I said firmly. “Or is that prescription beyond my ‘mediocre qualifications’?”

I suspect the grim smile on our landlady’s face mirrored my own.


	35. The Valley of Fear (Part 1): Pawky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watson knows how to handle a rude flatmate.

“I am inclined to strike –“ said I.

“I should do so,” Sherlock Holmes remarked impatiently. Then froze. 

I met his eyes coolly, and waited until his look of chagrin was replaced with a smile and then a guffaw, which I joined. I accepted the apology his eyes made that his words did not. 

“Watch your own predictability,” I warned.


	36. The Valley of Fear (Part 2): Dear Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s something vaguely familiar about Birdy Edwards’ fate.

“Lost overboard in gale off St. Helena.” Holmes repeated Barker’s description of Ivy Douglas’ cable. 

That meant more than the sinister hand of the Professor, who’d sent that taunting missive the day before. This meant…

“For me, the Lone Star – for him, Jack Douglas.” Holmes smiled sadly. “Moriarty has learned how to summon Poseidon to vanquish HIS opponents as well.”


	37. His Last Bow: The King’s English

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holmes has been defiled and Watson cannot bear it.

Easier to remove that ghastly goatee.

“…I swear, Watson, that chump thought he could play me for a sucker. Well, I gave him the old heave-ho, and oh, _wasn’t_ he a sick chicken!”

Wincing, I made my decision. England would do without my service at the front – I would be needed here, training that foul slang from my friend’s tongue.

 


	38. The Mazarin Stone: To the Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again, Doyle teases. I wanted to see this one.

An elderly woman – the dowager’s hump, tattered umbrella, and every line of her body bespeaking a lifetime of drudgery, from her unattractively hawkish nose to the shuffling flatfooted gait – appeared in the parlour.

“Bravo!” I smiled. “Or should that be ‘brava’?”

My partner responded with a modest head-turn, and just a touch of the impish grin of a faded coquette.


	39. The Problem of Thor Bridge: Unlearning What Has Been Taught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First impressions can be overcome, through diligent education.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter postulates a pairing of H and W.

“I understand you more these days, Holmes.” 

A droll smile. “Really, Doctor?”

“Your former scorn for ‘the softer emotions.’ Were my first experiences those of examining the aftermath of incidents like Thor Bridge, or creatures like Jonas Oldacre, I’d shun romantic love as poison too.”

He caressed the hand I’d laid on his cheek. “Fortunately, I have an excellent teacher.”


	40. The Creeping Man: At Chequers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Above-mediocrity port, above-reproach linen, and animal instincts = “a cup of tea.” 
> 
> **Warning:** Explicit postulation in progress.

“What have you been taking, my dear?”

 

I laughed in my throat and held him tighter. “The same elixir of youth that you imbibe. Brandy. Tobacco. Crime.”

 

His laugh echoed mine. “Surely some extract of a beast is involved. Bear, perhaps? Or wolf?”

 

“Wolf only in this respect, dearest.” I began covering him with port-flavoured kisses. “Wolves mate for life.”


	41. The Sussex Vampire: A Dog’s Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ACD would be on a dozen SPCA warning lists today.

“The boy stuck me and then my legs were bad.” Carlo looked behind where his tail still could not wag.

Roy growled. “My master started smelling like an ape. He teased and hurt me too. Humans! I say we leave.”

“Where should we go?”

The wolfhound grinned. “I have an idea. Let’s go down to Dartmoor and terrorize the townsfolk!”


	42. The Three Garridebs: But If I Did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock Holmes had posited a rhetorical question at the end of “Devil’s Foot.”

“I have my answer, Watson.”

 

I looked up, startled at the first words Holmes had uttered since we’d turned Evans over to Lestrade.

 

“You witnessed it.” He steepled his fingers. “I would, indeed, act as did Dr. Sterndale, or Jefferson Hope, under identical circumstances.”

 

I blinked stinging eyes.

 

_Identical._

 

How efficient of Holmes to condense three oft-used words into one.


	43. The Illustrious Client: Aftereffect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holmes is not the only one bearing the marks of the Violet de Merville case.

“Han Dynasty. Song… Tang.”

I open my eyes at the mutters from the couch beside mine.

“Xing porcelain… Heibei Province… for Emperor Kangxi.”

Whilst I’d soaked my bruises, the masseur’s hands have relaxed Watson into deep sleep.

“Celadon. Silk Road… Fukien.”

Tenderly I draw him close. I, too, am here to be used.

“Lian-Hua,” he murmurs against my mouth, awaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **After Note:** “Lian-Hua,” the word for “Lotus,” a symbol of purity in China, is made of characters and sounds that can also mean to bind, unite in marriage, and love.


	44. The Three Gables: In Dixie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A place where “it is always 1895” would be Hell for black people.

White people.

They forbid a Negro to get an education, then mock him for a simpleton; pay him pennies then laugh at his cheap clothes; hire him to pound someone and call him a brute for doing their bidding.

I take their money and their scorn, loathing their idiocy.

But this white man sees too much. I’ll keep my distance.


	45. The Blanched Soldier: Artistic License

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John Watson isn’t the only one in the family who changes the facts of the case to protect the people involved.

“‘Leprosy’.”

Holmes smiled bitterly. “No better analogy. Family shame, preference for death of the one stricken, a loved one turned away at the door?”

I kissed him. “They are together, if disowned. They are happy. As are we.”

He smiled. “I did tell one unabashed truth.”

“That I had wed.” I caressed his angular jaw. “My ‘wife’ needs a shave.”


	46. The Lion’s Mane: Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sussex isn’t the nice peaceful retirement site you’d think it should be.

I sought a quiet place to retire after a long and adventuresome life. This secluded cove seemed a perfect place. 

But the local neighbors intruded on my new home, even bothering me when I was trying to dine. 

I’d made up my mind to move out at the next high tide when the land-monsters came back. 

I’d only wanted peace.


	47. The Retired Colourman: Odours and Infidelities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble in paradise. 
> 
> Several postulations ensue.

“A wild goose chase.” I glared at Holmes. “And all for a very obvious reason.”

“Indeed. To keep our suspect out of town whilst I investigated.”

I gripped his collar and glared into his startled eyes. “Which I would believe, if Barker’s cologne smell on you didn’t tell me exactly WHAT kind of investigation went on while I was away!”


	48. The Veiled Lodger: Peer Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She might have options.

They were all veiled in some way. 

“Death isn’t the only option,” one dapper white-masked fellow said. “Have you considered living in the sewers of Paris and stalking a favoured tenor or baritone?”

“Or consider piracy,” a black-masked man said, one hand on his sword. “The Veiled Pirate Roberts might strike even more fear into people.”

She already felt better.


	49. Shoscombe Old Place: Addiction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had nothing to do with justice.

“You should have exposed him, Holmes.”

“I am not retained by the police –“ 

Watson smacked his pen down so hard that a drop of ink fell on the paper. “Norbertson was _foul_ – an amoral brute who hid his own sister’s death to avoid a well-deserved bankruptcy. Where was your sense of justice?” 

That averted gaze… The puzzle, nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last prompt for the 2015 Sherlock Sixty for Sixty round.


End file.
